Parks make a delicate state issue

HARRISBURG -- There are still some true outdoorsmen, the kind who could survive a week in the woods armed with a folding knife and some matches. But they are greatly outnumbered by the semi-outdoorsmen, the kind who enjoy hiking or fishing or hunting, but at the end of the day prefer a soft bed and a nice meal to a sleeping bag and a tent.

That is why Pennsylvania is thinking of building overnight lodges at some of its state parks within the next few years. The new lodges may resemble what you can already find at ski resorts or larger national parks such as Yellowstone or Yosemite -- conference rooms, restaurants and residential suites equipped with television sets, kitchenettes and other modern amenities.

But in pursuing the lodges, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources must perform a delicate balancing act, drawing new classes of visitors without offending those who think parks ought to be largely kept in their natural condition....

Parks are a state issue. This is an area I am most qualified to ponder and lead.

My sister and her family resides in a state park at a county facility. It is much like a lodge. It is a youth hostil in a beautiful setting.

Parks matter.

Programming in parks matter too.

Finally, I'm not certain that these parks should be building lodges with taxpayer money when the times are lean. Growing Greener matters too.

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Lodges for parks a delicate state issue

Sunday, March 13, 2005By Bill Toland, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG -- There are still some true outdoorsmen, the kind who could survive a week in the woods armed with a folding knife and some matches. But they are greatly outnumbered by the semi-outdoorsmen, the kind who enjoy hiking or fishing or hunting, but at the end of the day prefer a soft bed and a nice meal to a sleeping bag and a tent.

That is why Pennsylvania is thinking of building overnight lodges at some of its state parks within the next few years. The new lodges may resemble what you can already find at ski resorts or larger national parks such as Yellowstone or Yosemite -- conference rooms, restaurants and residential suites equipped with television sets, kitchenettes and other modern amenities.

But in pursuing the lodges, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources must perform a delicate balancing act, drawing new classes of visitors without offending those who think parks ought to be largely kept in their natural condition.

At a budget hearing this month, DCNR Secretary Michael DiBerardinis assured lawmakers that the new lodges would not be "resorts." That means no water slides, no tennis courts, no dance clubs, no day spas. Those assurances may not be enough, though, when the vagaries of the plan become more specific and opponents to development begin speaking out.

"We don't have a blanket, no-lodges-ever policy," said Tom Wolper, the conservation head of the Sierra Club's Pennsylvania chapter. "But we oppose these lodges. It's bringing too much development into the state parks ... new roads, clearing wetlands."

Finances are also an issue. These are tight financial times for most state departments, and the DCNR is not an exception. Throughout the state park system, some picnic areas are closed, some lakes will no longer have lifeguards and educational programs are being reduced because of budgetary constraints.

Still, the DCNR is pressing ahead, at least in the planning phase. To bring in enough people, the lodges would have to be placed in areas where they could be used year-round -- for hiking in the spring, vacations in the summer, hunting and foliage-watching in the autumn, and ice fishing in the winter. At the outset, the DCNR has been focusing on three areas: the newly acquired Erie Bluffs State Park in Erie County, S.B. Elliott State Park in Clearfield County and Prince Gallitzin State Park in northern Cambria County.

The lodge planning dovetails with Gov. Ed Rendell's ambition to lift Pennsylvania's eco-tourism industry. He has said often that Pennsylvania has "the ability to become the No. 1 [destination] east of the Mississippi in eco-tourism," and in order to do that, more state parks must become overnight attractions.

Of the state's 117 parks, two-thirds have overnight "accommodations," but this usually means rustic cottages, stand-alone cabins or, more often, a patch of ground where you can set up a tent or park a motor home. The lodges would cater to the prospective park visitors who don't want to get away from it all, just most of it.

"We're missing a group who would like to use our parks, but would also like to stay someplace nice," said David Kemmerer, assistant director with the DCNR.

Just as importantly, the lodges would provide new revenue for the DCNR. It's likely that the department would lease the land on which the lodge is built to a vendor who has experience running hotels and lodges. The department could also receive a cut of the lodge's annual income.

The conservation department has hired a number of firms to determine how the lodges should look, where they should be built, and whether people would even use them in great enough numbers to justify the start-up and construction expenses. At Erie Bluffs, for example, the state has hired a Philadelphia landscape consulting firm, Wallace Roberts & Todd, and a tourism research firm, Economic Research Associates, to study how the 540-acre tract could best be developed.

DCNR spokesman Terry Brady said the lodges, if they are built, could help to pull weekend visitors from the state's population centers in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to the state's northern and central regions, where hotels are less prevalent and park visitors are less likely to stay overnight.

The goals for the lodges are established, but the specific are scarce. One lodge could have several dozen rooms, private baths, a restaurant on the ground floor, several conference rooms. Another lodge might more closely resemble a bed-and-breakfast -- 10 or so beds, a small common kitchen. The lodge in Clearfield County is being envisioned as a welcome center, inviting visitors to the many parks in the northern part of the state. The lodges may also try to take advantage of hilltop locations by offering rooms with a "million-dollar view" -- Erie Bluffs, for example, offers great views of Lake Erie.